On 9 June 2021, the European Commission released its preliminary report presenting its key findings of its competition sector inquiry into markets for consumer Internet of Things (IoT) related products and services in the EU. This report was published following a sector inquiry launched in July 2020 as part of the Commission's digital strategy. The findings are now subject to a public consultation, closing on 1 September 2021. The Commission's analysis will also feed into its future enforcement and regulatory action.
Key Findings
The use of consumer IoT products are increasingly becoming part
of everyday life and the sector is expected to grow significantly
in the coming years.
The aim of the inquiry was to gain a better understanding of the
consumer IoT sector, its competitive landscape, developing trends
and potential competition issues.
The Commission's initial concerns with the sector were that
there might be a risk of gatekeepers emerging, who could use their
power to harm competition, to the detriment of developing
businesses and consumers. The Commission found many stakeholders
shared its concerns.
The main findings of the report cover: (i) the characteristics of
consumer IoT products and services; (ii) the features of
competition in these markets; and (iii) the main areas of potential
concerns raised by respondents regarding the current and future
state of the sector.
Respondents to the inquiry highlighted the following potential
concerns:
- The cost of technology investment and the competitive
situation are the main barriers to entry or expansion in
the consumer IoT sector;
- Exclusivity, concurrency and tying in relation
to voice assistants could raise potential competition concerns if
they prevent other competing voice assistants from being used on
the same smart device;
- Pre-installation, default-setting and
prominence practices can determine the discoverability,
visibility and findability of consumer IoT services on smart
devices or in relation to voice assistants;
- Certain providers of smart device operating systems and voice
assistants seem to have extensive access to data,
e.g. allowing the leading voice assistant providers to accumulate
large amounts of data, enabling them to control the data flows and
user relationships and leverage into adjacent markets;
- Lack of interoperability in the consumer IoT
sector due to the prevalence of propriety technology leading to the
creation of 'de facto' standards;
and
- The role of the leading providers of voice assistants and smart device operating systems as intermediaries between the user and the smart devices or consumer IoT services that are controllable and accessible through the voice assistant and/or operating system, combined with their key role in the generation and collection of data, would allow them to control user relationships.
Next steps
The Final Report will likely be published around the first half of 2022. Further information can be found in the Commission's press release, and the full report can be found here.
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